Walk In My Direction
by chalantness
Summary: for Representin' All Day. Part of the College 'verse. Conner agreed to come back to the farm for Fourth of July because he got the week off from work and it's been a while since he's seen any family. Not so his dad could try and set him up with anyone.


**Title: **_Walk In My Direction  
_**Rating:** T  
**Word Count:** 6,200+  
**Characters:** Conner/Cassie with some Clark/Diana  
**Summary:** Conner agreed to come back to the farm for Fourth of July because he got the week off from work and it's been a while since he's seen any family. _Not_ so his dad could try and set him up with anyone.

**For:** Representin' All Day, who asked for anything with this pair. _Part of the College 'verse._

**Walk In My Direction**

Conner agreed to come back to the farm for Fourth of July because he got the week off from work and it's been a while since he's seen any family.

_Not_ so his dad could try and set him up with anyone.

(And no, just because his dad told him it wasn't like that doesn't mean he really believes it.)

Cassie is apparently the daughter of a close friend of Diana's, who's been Clark's friend for as long as Conner could remember. Cassie's supposedly around Conner's age or at least a year younger, but he wasn't really paying attention after that because really? Call him skeptical, but it's kind of hard to believe that his dad would invite a girl who's single and not related to them to a family vacation without the intention of trying to set them up.

"Con, Cassie's mother is a single parent and has a job that requires her to be away from home often," his dad had told him over the phone. "Diana's known Cassie since she was small. She just doesn't want Cassie to have to spend the holiday alone."

He's still suspicious, but whatever. He already paid for the plane ticket and he really _does_ want to spend the week there, so.

And it's not like he doesn't like meeting new people. He may not be the most social person ever, but he's not as socially inept as he was before high school.

He's just not entirely over his first relationship.

No, he doesn't think he's still in love with her and it's been a year already, but he'd been with his girlfriend for pretty much all of high school and then there was talk their senior year that she was cheating, but he was dumb and wanted to believe differently. Then they were stupid and tried to make a long distance thing work out when they ended up going to different colleges, and in the middle of his second semester of freshmen year, Megan's best friend (well, former best friend), Artemis, of all people, broke the news.

She'd texted him for the first time since they graduated and said they needed to talk. He kind of figured it was bad and had to do with Megan, but he was still _mad_ when she admitted Megan was sleeping with Logan and had been, on and off, since junior year.

Logan, who'd been captain of swim team in high school, and the same Logan it was rumored Megan was cheating on him with back then.

Well, obviously those weren't rumors if they were true.

And like, he was furious at Artemis at first for keeping it from him, since he's been her friend for all of high school, too.

But once he calmed down enough to think again, he remembered that obviously Artemis was trying to make up for it now. Artemis had always been his favorite friend of Megan's because they have similar personalities and she understands him. Plus they both kind of had to go through the same thing as they watched Megan change during high school and knew they were losing her, and Artemis was crying a little (which she never really does) when he met her at Starbucks that night so they could talk.

And he can't hate her for flying all the way to see him after almost a year of zero communication so that she can spill her former best friend's dirty secret.

So yeah, after all that, he's just not ready to be more than just friends with a girl. He even tried the whole casual sex thing, because he's a guy in college and _yeah_, but he just felt guilty. He's not the kind of person who likes one-night-stands and feels okay with treating girls like they're disposable or something.

That's just how he was raised.

... ...

Kara meets him at the airport and he's laughing when she tackles him to the ground in a hug. She's his aunt, but she may as well be his cousin or older sister or something because she's closer in age to Conner than she is to Clark (but only by a few years or something; it's actually kind of weird to think about) and acts more like a sibling than an aunt.

Not that that's a bad thing, because she's not irresponsible or immature. She's just a huge kid at heart.

Everyone's sort of staring at them as she springs back up and yanks him upright. Well, he thinks they're mostly staring at _Kara_, because she's in jean shorts and this blue blouse that dips a little in the front and she's _hot_. Whatever, they're related and he's allowed to acknowledge that his young aunt is beautiful.

"I swear, you look just like your dad," she tells him, ruffling his hair.

He's a whole head taller than her now and has to look down in order to meet her eyes. "Yeah?"

"Yeah. And _damn_," she laughs, poking his bicep, "does that college team of yours inject steroids into you or something?"

"Aunt Kara…"

She rolls her eyes. "You watch the news, don't you? Steroids are practically trending nowadays." He snorts and shakes his head. "And look, Con, do me a favor and don't give your dad a hard time, alright? Believe it or not, he really _isn't_ trying to set you up with Cassie. He only found out that Cassie was even coming at all a few days ago and then called you as soon as he did. _I _only found out a few days ago, too. Mom, Dad, and Diana didn't really give us much of a heads up."

Despite himself, he smiles. That sounds like Diana. She's become so close to the family that she's like another daughter to his grandparents.

"Where is he, anyway?"

"He went into town with Diana to buy stuff for the Fourth."

Conner slides his shades over his eyes as they step outside. "How's he doing?"

"Considering he's five months out of a four-year relationship, surprisingly well," Kara admits, and she sounds sincere about it. "It probably has a lot to do with Diana. She checks up on him all the time, especially now that she lives near him."

"I'm glad that he has her," he admits.

She nods in agreement. "You know, I told Clark that I wish you had been as lucky to have someone like Diana helping when you went through everything."

Conner sighs a little, tips his head back and squints up at the sky.

"Me too."

... ...

When he gets to the farm, his grandparents pretty much put him to work on chores right away, which he'd obviously wouldn't mind doing for them already, but he's kind of glad this time around because it's a great distraction. They tell him that Cassie's flight won't be in until almost midnight, so he thinks the next few hours is more than enough time to kind of adjust himself into keeping an open mind. He's gotten better at it now, but it kind of took forever for him right after the breakup to remember that not all girls are like Megan.

Anyway.

It's kind of crazy that by the time Clark and Diana get back, he's mowed the lawn, trimmed the hedges, watered the plants, stacked the hay, and cleaned the gutters. But he also doesn't doubt that they needed hours to find everything on their list, because his grandparents know everyone and it feels like almost half the town always comes to the barbecue.

Nana has lemonade ready in the kitchen, and he's _thirsty_ and easily goes through three glasses in two minutes.

"Thanks for all the hard work, Con," Nana says as she fills his glass to the top again. "At least now you'll have your father to help you with the deck."

Which, yeah, he's grateful for, but he wouldn't have minded doing it alone. He loves his dad and all, but Clark isn't always the greatest when it comes to words that aren't printed in a newspaper, and Conner totally gets that from him. When they're just catching up with each other and stuff, they're fine.

But when it's the heavy, emotional kind of talks, it gets kind of awkward for the both of them.

Still, he eats a late lunch and then moves all of the patio furniture aside so that he and Clark can power wash the deck as soon as Clark's done unloading the truck. The deck is kind of _huge_, too, because the house is long and the deck wraps around the whole thing, so they actually can't talk much because he takes the left side and Clark takes the right and they don't see each other again until they've both made their way to the back deck.

"Look, Con," Clark says as they're waiting for the deck to dry so they can put the furniture back on, "I'm sorry for springing the whole Cassie thing on you so suddenly."

Conner shakes his head, cracks a smile. "I talked to Aunt Kara and… I'm not mad. I mean, I shouldn't have been to begin with, but… Well, I should've believed that you wouldn't try to do something like that to me after _everything_ that's, you know, happened to the both of us."

His dad smiles at him. "I wouldn't," he agrees. "But I don't blame you for reacting the way that you did because of… _everything_."

Conner shrugs. "It's been a year. I think I should be over it by now."

"Things don't happen in a certain way." Conner looks at him. "What I'm trying to say is that it's okay if you're not over it. There aren't any clear _should_s and _shouldn't_s in life."

"I guess."

"And, look…" Clark adds. "I'm not… I'm not trying to suggest anything, but I _do _think spending time with Cassie this week will be good. I mean, I know it's not entirely the same situation, but at least I had Diana to help me with what I'm going through, you know? Maybe Cassie can be someone like that for you, too."

Conner shrugs his shoulders a little. "I think that'd make more sense if it hasn't been so long since it happened. With you, it's… It's _fresher_, I guess."

"It's still fresh to you if you're not entirely over it yet," Clark reminds, and then smiles a little. "Just… I don't know. Just think about it, okay?" he asks, and Conner can't help but nod.

And he honestly considers staying up to wait for Cassie, but he's also exhausted from all of the chores and still a little jet lagged. Nana tells him not to worry about it and that Cassie won't mind if he doesn't stay up to meet her because she's arriving so late, so he kisses her cheek, takes a quick shower and knocks out as soon as he hits the bed.

... ...

Cassie's still asleep when he wakes up, and so are Diana and Kara because they were the ones to pick her up. So it's just him, his dad, Nana, and Papa at the table for breakfast, and Nana tells them everything that needs to get done over the next few days: they're cleaning out the barn and cutting the grass out back today, dusting and vacuuming tomorrow, and then cooking the day after that until the next evening, which will be the Fourth of July.

When they hear one of the girls coming down the stairs, it's almost 8:00. He doesn't know why he expects it to be Diana or Kara, but it's probably because he thought that Cassie would be jet lagged from her late flight or something and would've been the last, or at least second-to-last, up.

But the blonde that walks into the kitchen definitely isn't his Aunt Kara.

Her hair is curlier and more golden and tied into this high ponytail, and her skin has more color to it than his aunt's (not that he'll be telling Kara that, ever). She's wearing a pair of Aunt Kara's farm boots with khaki shorts and a dark green button-down, and she definitely looks like she could be his age, if not a year or some odd months younger.

"Good morning, Cassie," Nana greets, standing up and giving the girl a kiss on her cheek. "Here, let's get a plate started for you, because I know you're probably starving after only eating that airplane food. Oh, and you met Jon last night. And this is my son, Clark," she says, gesturing to Clark before turning her towards Conner, "and this is _his_ son, Conner."

"Hi," Cassie says with a harmless hint of amusement (which gets used a lot with Nana), her blue eyes meeting his. "I'm Cassie."

"It's nice to meet you, Cassie," Clark says, and Conner nods and doesn't really know what else to say.

He gets saved, though – well, sort of – because Nana pulls up the chair beside his and sets a glass of juice, a plate with pancakes and another plate with toast, eggs, bacon and sausage on the table and tells her to eat as much as she wants.

Cassie chuckles a little and nods, walking around and sliding into her seat.

She meets his eyes again and gives him a smile, brings her glass to her lips and takes a thirsty gulp as his dad starts talking with Nana and Papa again. He and Cassie just stay quiet as they eat, and he thinks that no one's talking to Cassie yet because Nana wants her to eat. Nana gave her kind of a massive amount food, too, so he's actually kind of impressed when Cassie begins eating _everything_ pretty quickly. He eats a lot himself, and he's known girls who have big appetites, too, but none have really matched the huge appetite his whole family has.

She's finished with all of her bacon, most of her sausage links, and most of her pancakes, and takes another drink of her orange juice before finally acknowledging him again.

"Sorry if this is disgusting," she apologizes with a laugh, but she doesn't seem embarrassed about it or her appetite. He gives a smile. His Nana was right – _big surprise_ – but she _was_ starving after only eating airplane food for dinner.

"It's not," he says, and she breaks off a piece of toast, swipes it through the egg yolk and pops it into her mouth. "And I wouldn't really mind, anyway. I mean, not that…"

She laughs a little and nods, and he doesn't know why, but it makes him feel like less of an idiot.

... ...

Nana has him and Cassie cleaning out the barn while everyone's grooming the backyard.

It actually takes over an hour to sweep the floor, because there's a lot of stuff in the barn and they have to keep moving things so they can sweep under it and then move it back into place. He starts on the ground and Cassie goes up to sweep the loft, but there's probably more stuff to have to move around up there, so he finishes before her.

When he gets upstairs and asks if she wants help, she's sliding Nana's chest aside and then laughing and twisting away when dust flies everywhere. He chuckles and she straightens up and smiles, grabbing her broom again. "I'm alright here," she tells him.

"Well, I just finished downstairs, so I can help if you want."

"Actually, maybe you could wipe down the tools like Mrs. Kent asked us to and then you can help me dust up here?" she suggests with a shrug. "I _should_ be done sweeping by then, and I could really use a hand moving…" She gestures around at the amount of stuff. "…_everything_."

He laughs knowingly. "It's a lot."

"The thought's sweet, though," Cassie says. "That she wants to keep everything, I mean, because they're like memories." He nods, not really sure what to say. Then she smiles again. "I know I'm being awkward. It's just that I travelled around a lot and couldn't really keep anything for sentimental value because it would take up room in my luggage that I needed for the essentials. So, I don't know, I guess I appreciate it a little bit more when I see that people _do_ keep things, you know?"

"Yeah," he says, because he actually does understand what she's trying to say. "Why did you travel a lot?"

"My mother's an archaeologist. I was home-schooled up until high school because her job kept her moving around a lot," she explains, and then shrugs. "It was definitely fun, but it would've been nice to keep souvenirs. But I don't really mind now, because I took pictures instead and got into photography. So I have travelling to thank for that."

"You take pictures professionally?"

"I want to," she laughs, and yeah, he almost forgot that they're the same age.

It's not that she seems _older_ or something, but… He's never really felt his own age, either, and talking with Cassie (well, listening to her talk) didn't really remind him of that. He's just used to college and high school and being around girls like Megan, who are kind of everything you imagined a young woman to be.

And he knows he shouldn't be comparing the two of them, but whatever. It's just nice talking with Cassie, is all.

"Anyway," Cassie says, pulling him from his thoughts, and at the back of his mind he wonders how long she left him to himself. It used to annoy Megan that he would sometimes be too lost in his own head to pay attention. "I should finish sweeping so we can dust up here."

"Right," he says kind of automatically, and then nods a bit. "Right."

She smiles at him and then starts sweeping again, and he heads back downstairs and pulls his gloves on.

Papa generally keeps the tools in good condition and everything, but Conner always makes sure to clean them as thoroughly as possible whenever he comes over, anyway, because they don't get used as often as they used to. He fills a bucket with hot water, adds in some cleaner and dumps the tools from the workbench in and lets them soak while he starts hosing off the gardening tools. Then he dries those off with some old towels and wipes on some oil over the metal parts like his dad taught him to do to prevent rusting.

Nana comes in as he's pulling the tools from the bucket out, scrubbing them with a wire brush and swiping on a coat of oil. He doesn't really know what she's doing when she pulls out the old dining table and two folding chairs and wipes everything down, but then she disappears and comes back with a pitcher one hand a tray in the other.

"Time to break for lunch, kids," she announces, looking up at the loft. "Cassie?"

"I'll be there in a second," Cassie calls back, and soon enough, he hears her coming down the stairs. "Thanks for the food, Mrs. Kent."

"Of course," Nana laughs. Then she pulls out a small bottle of hand sanitizer and hands it to him. "And call me Martha, dear," she insists before leaving again.

"Your grandma's awesome."

He laughs a little and nods, squirting some sanitizer into her palm when she holds her hand out to him. "Yeah, she is." He rubs some sanitizer over his own hands and they take their seats. Nana brought them iced tea, sandwiches and even a small plate of cookies. She's the best.

"Here, let me…" Cassie trails off as she lifts the pitcher, leans over and pours some in his glass before filling her own.

"Thanks."

"Think of it as my _thank you_ for later when you help me dust the loft," she laughs. "I'm honestly paranoid I'm going to break anything I touch."

"I doubt you're as clumsy as me," he says without really thinking, and when he looks at her, she's smiling at him playfully like it's some sort of challenge. He thinks he's okay with admitting in his head that he likes it when she smiles, which is a good thing since she seems to do it _a lot_.

"You'd be surprised," she tells him, holding her glass up, and he clinks his against hers even though he doesn't know what they're toasting to. Whatever.

He likes surprises.

... ...

Dusting the loft takes another few hours, though they probably took a lot longer than they needed to because she would ask questions about everything she picked up and he'd answer them and then they'd get sidetracked. They didn't end up breaking anything, but it's not because she wasn't knocking things over. She just has these super quick reflexes and catches them before they actually hit the ground, if he didn't catch them for her. It was kind of cool, actually.

And he learns a little more about her, like that she goes to college in a city that's a few hours from him and she's at the gym down the block from her campus really early every morning. They actually have a few things in common that he didn't expect and it's awesome because he's never really had that with a girl other than Artemis.

After dinner that night, they're all sitting around the table in the den and playing Clue, but then Nana brings in pie for everyone and they kind of get distracted from the game.

"So Cassie, how do you like Smallville?" Clark asks.

"It's dusty," she laughs, and Conner cracks a smile. "But I really like it here."

"Wait until you see the rest of the town," Papa tells her. "Maybe Conner can show you around after the Fourth, when we don't have so much stuff to do."

She grins at him. "Sounds like fun," she says, meaning it, and he can't help but think the same thing.

... ...

The day before the barbecue, he wakes up a little after 5:00. He's not sure why he's up so early, either, because they spent all of yesterday dusting and vacuuming the house and cleaning the kitchen and bathrooms, and he kind of felt exhausted when he went to bed. But somehow he just woke up this early.

When he walks out into the hallway, Cassie's sitting at the top of the stairs and lacing her shoes.

"Where're you going?" he asks, though she's very obviously dressed for a morning run. He'll blame having just woken up for asking stupid questions.

"Out for a run," she answers as she stands. "Don't worry. I told Martha yesterday that I was thinking about running in the morning, so she'll know where I disappeared to."

"Oh."

She grins. "Did you want to come?"

"Actually, yeah," he says, and then adds, "If you don't mind."

"Not at all. I'll wait in the kitchen," she tells him before heading down the staircase.

He changes into some basketball shorts and a tank and pulls on a windbreaker. Once he laces on his shoes and grabs his iPod, he heads downstairs and finds Cassie standing in the kitchen and tying up her hair. He nods when she asks if he's ready to go, and she clips her mp3 player into place and they both slip in their earphones as they head outside.

He runs beside her with his music playing in his ears, and he's kind of glad that they brought their own players to listen to. It's obviously not that he doesn't want to talk to her, but it's hard to chat while trying to regulate your breathing. And they're actually running pretty quickly and keeping a steady pace, and he's impressed. He's not trying to be sexist or anything, but he's just used to running all the time for football and because he likes the intensity of a good workout. Even some of his teammates can't always keep up with him.

He can tell they're out for at least two hours or something, too, because he watches the sky lighten up into the bright blue it usually around the time most people wake up. This is also when they start slowing to a jog, and then they go maybe twenty more minutes before they've reduced to walking.

He pulls his earphones out when she does, and he can hear her panting a little.

"It's a good thing you came with me," she says, "because I have no idea where we are."

He laughs. They're actually only two miles away from the house because they ran this sort of huge oval, but obviously she didn't really plan that route if she doesn't know how far they are. "We're close," he assures.

"Good," she exhales, "because I could really use some water when we get back."

He nods in agreement. "How long do you usually run?"

"Probably the same amount of time we did today," she shrugs, "or maybe a little longer? I don't know. I haven't run like that in over a week because my schedule's been off."

"Mine too," he admits. "I haven't really worked out steadily since the semester ended. I should, though."

"Sometimes you could use the break. But if you want a girl's opinion, it definitely doesn't show," she adds, playfully bumping her fist against his abs. He chuckles breathily.

"You have great stamina," he tells her.

"For a girl?" she teases.

He grins. "For anyone. I know some guys who don't run that consistently at this pace. And for a girl, too, I guess. My old girlfriend… she was a cheerleader and they actually ran a lot but it was never as intense as anything I did. Sometimes we'd run together, but…"

"She couldn't keep up?" Cassie guesses. He nods. "Well, that's okay. Not everyone's used to it."

"Yeah," he breathes.

... ...

When they get back, they go through two water bottles each, and then she goes upstairs to shower and he grabs a change of clothes from his room and showers downstairs. He's out before her, though, and Clark and Diana are still at the table finishing breakfast when he fills his plate and sits down across from them.

"Had a good run?" Clark asks, and Conner nods and bites off the top of his bacon. "Cassie was telling yesterday me about her personal workout schedule. It's impressive."

"Yeah," Conner agrees. "We kept pace the entire time, but we were also running pretty hard. I haven't really gone for a run like that since the middle of June."

"It's a good thing you went with Cassie, then," Clark laughs.

Diana smiles at him knowingly. "Is there something else you wanted to talk about?" she asks Conner.

"How did you…"

"I've known you since you were a baby," Diana reminds. "Just because your father doesn't push all the time, doesn't mean that I won't."

Clark gives her an amused look and Diana laughs and steals one of his sausage links.

He smiles at the exchange, but honestly?

Yeah, part of him kind of wanted to talk about everything. Because while they were running, he had this fleeting thought that he could picture himself running with her every morning in that same comfortable silence. And when he was talking to her, it was the first time he mentioned Megan without really feeling bitter over it or something, or immediately remembering everything that happened between them. It was like he didn't feel the need to dwell on it just because he mentioned her name.

He'd tell Clark and Diana, but he kind of already knows that they'd tell them that it's a good sign because he's starting to move on or something like that. And yeah, he did start to compare Megan to Cassie like he tends to do with every girl he spends time with, but that went away after the first few hours. And he actually didn't notice that fact until now.

He debates saying all of this, but then Cassie walks into the room and greets them, grabs a plate and takes a seat beside him.

She laughs when she steals one of his bacon strips, and he can't help but be amused.

Maybe Cassie really _is_ his Diana.

... ...

On the Fourth of July, he stands in the huge backyard with about a hundred people he grew up around and hasn't seen since his last visit during Christmas, and it's nice.

Lois (Clark's ex-girlfriend that he'd recently split with) is even there for a bit, because Nana and Papa would never cut her off like that and he knows Clark wouldn't, either. Even if they didn't work out as a couple, Conner always knew they'd be friends. They just have that sort of chemistry, you know? And obviously it's not as smooth as it used to be, and it may take a while before it is again, but Clark hugs her and they talk for a bit and Conner smiles because he knows they're going to be okay.

He also knows that while he's still not entirely ready to try and salvage some form of friendship with Megan right now, he doesn't think it's impossible, anymore. He knows she and Artemis still talk every once in a while, even after everything they'd gone through. He thinks if he can have that with her someday, he knows he's moved on.

Anyway.

He introduces Cassie to a few people before Clark finds him and says he has visitors, which he finds kind of weird because isn't everyone here technically visitors?

But then he sees two of his from high school and it's not that he'd forgotten he invited them, but he wasn't sure if they'd be able to make the trip. It's awesome to see them, though, and they're part of the handful of people he hung out with in high school that he actually keeps in touch with often.

"What are you guys doing here?"

"You invited us!" Mal laughs as he claps his hand on Conner's shoulder.

"And we wanted to see you!" Karen kisses his cheek and gives him a hug. "Besides, we're going to my family reunion at my grandparents' house. They live the next state over and my aunt and cousins are driving through here, so we're in town until they pick us up on the way tomorrow."

"Well, it's awesome that you guys could make it," Conner says. Then he looks over at Cassie. "Sorry, I didn't mean to—"

Cassie laughs and shakes her head dismissively. "Don't worry about it," she assures, and then turns to Mal and Karen, "I'm Cassie."

And honestly, he doesn't really think about what this might look like to them until Karen gets this _huge_ smile on her face and gives Cassie a hug. "I'm Karen," she introduces a little too eagerly, "and this is my boyfriend, Mal. We're friends of Conner's from high school."

"Hey, Karen, we're not—"

But he gets cut off when Karen laughs a little and puts her hand over her stomach. "Sorry, Con, but my stomach just growled. I'm kind of _starving_."

"You _have_ to try Jon's steak," Cassie says. "His marinade is _delicious_."

Karen beams at her. "Okay, _you_ are going to be my favorite person tonight," she laughs, linking their arms together. Then she calls out, "We're going to go eat!" to them over her shoulder before heading towards the food, and Conner's not entirely sure what just happened. It's been a while and he's not really used to Karen like he was before.

"Just like in high school, huh?" Mal asks. Conner laughs and nods. "It might not seem like it, but she's actually a lot better now."

"She is?"

"Yeah, but enough about that. Why didn't you tell us about Cassie?" Mal questions.

"There isn't anything to tell. I just met her this week," Conner explains, and Mal makes an _ahh_ sound. "But yeah, she's great," he adds, and then kind of immediately regrets it.

"Are you _sure_ there isn't anything to tell?" He rolls his eyes. "I'm just messing with you, man," Mal laughs. "I see someone else hasn't changed much since high school. But it's nice to see that you haven't given up on the female gender entirely," he adds, and then just laughs again when Conner glares and punches his shoulder. Jerk.

He sees the girls laughing and talking with a few people at the buffet table as they're piling food onto their plates, so he sticks with Mal and introduces him to everyone. Some people actually recognize him, too, which is kind of crazy because he's sure Mal and Karen have only spent two summers here. But then again, both times they came they stayed for over a month, so they obviously made an impression during their visits. And it's a small town full of people that kind of know everything about everyone, so.

Eventually they make their way across the lawn to where the girls are sitting near the grill and talking with Papa. He hands Cassie a paper towel and she smiles and wipes her mouth with it. "I'm probably not making a great impression," she laughs.

"Girl, you're fine," Karen assures.

"I thought you would've caught on by now," Papa chimes in, "that everyone here loves a person with a big appetite."

"I'm glad," Cassie laughs again, grinning at him. He doesn't know why, but he steals one of her fries and pops it into his mouth, and Cassie just smiles. Karen's giggling and Mal gives him a smirk, so yeah, that probably didn't help with the point he's trying to make, but whatever. It's not like he's entirely against the idea that they look like they're together.

And it feels like another hour passes before they announce that they're about to start the fireworks. Nana comes over, hands them each a slice of pie and tells them that they should head into the barn and open the window so that they can watch from there.

When he asks if she's sure it's alright for them to technically ditch the barbecue, she just laughs and says, "Why else would I have you clean that place?"

Of course.

So they sneak into the barn and up to the loft, and he gets the window open as Mal is saying, "Man, I remember this place."

"Though, never looking like _this_," Karen comments. "You weren't kidding when you said you cleaned it so well that it looked totally different."

Conner doesn't remember telling them about any cleaning they did this week, but when Cassie laughs, he figures she probably filled Karen in on a few things when they'd left them for the food. "We were in here the whole day. Though," Cassie looks at him and he grins, "that could've just been because we were messing around."

He's about to add something when there's a crackle behind him, and he turns around and sees sparks flying.

"Wow," he hears Karen say, and then Cassie is walking past him and leaning slightly out the window to get a better view. He walks over to her, he tells himself, just in case, but he just knows that even _she's_ not clumsy enough to actually fall out.

"Beautiful," she breathes, and he looks at her and smiles at the way the light flashes across her face as he whispers, "Yeah."

... ...

He doesn't remember _at all_ how they fell asleep, but when he wakes up, he squints against the light seeping through the cracks of the wood. It's not blinding or anything, but it's definitely bright enough in the barn to tell that it's pretty well into the morning.

Sleeping in a bean-bag chair like he did probably wasn't too great for his shoulder, but he'll ask Kara to massage the kinks out later. The four of them laugh at the indentation in Cassie's arm from falling asleep in the hammock – _shut up_, they just woke up – and Nana probably hears them or something because she comes in shortly after and tells them that breakfast is ready and they should eat it while it's hot. And they probably look ridiculous sitting at the table with their wrinkled clothes and messy hair, but whatever.

After breakfast, they take turns showering and then it's almost noon by the time they're all finished. Mal and Karen aren't getting picked up until the afternoon, so they decide to head into town to pass some of the time until then.

"So." Mal and Karen are grabbing stuff from the bakery and he's with Cassie in the stationary shop next door. "You have to show me around when I visit you next month."

"You're visiting next month?" She shrugs a little and picks up an envelope set. "That's almost a four-hour drive."

"We'll take turns," she tells him simply. "This time I'll drive down to visit you, and next time you'll drive up to visit me. I mean," she looks at him, "If you want to."

"Of course," he laughs, and he finds it kind of adorable how she bites her lip a little.

She picks up a bookmark that's handmade – everything in this store is, actually – and smiles. It's black with colorful streaks and some glitter to make it shiny and has a little star charm on the end of the tether, and it's obviously supposed to be a firework scene against a night sky. She puts it back, but he picks it up and then stands in line to buy it for her.

When she asks why, he shrugs his shoulders a bit and she looks totally amused when he says, "Sentimental value."


End file.
